Study Cites Link Between Alcohol-Based Mouthwash and Oral Cancer
January 28, 2009
In a story published on January 11, 2009 by the Australian newspaper The Sunday Telegraph, experts called for the immediate removal of alcohol-based mouthwash from Australia’s supermarket shelves.
This remarkable position is due to recent research that links the use of alcohol based mouthwash to oral cancer. A study by leading independent experts published in the Dental Journal of Australia concludes that there is now ‘sufficient evidence’ that ‘alcohol-containing mouthwashes contribute to the increased risk of development of oral cancer’. The lead author of the review and chair of the Australian Dental Associations (ADA) therapeutics committee, Professor Michael McCullough, told the Sunday Telegraph that alcohol-containing mouthwash should be reclassified as prescription-only and carry written health warnings.
Professor McCullough, who is on the faculty of the Department of Oral Medicine at the University of Melbourne, further called on the ADA to ‘urgently re-assess its seal of approval on mouthwashes containing alcohol.’ In particular, the study found that the effect of alcohol based mouthwash on smokers was extreme, with ‘a nine-fold increased risk of cancers in the oral cavity.’
‘If it was a facial cream that had the effect of reducing acne but had a four- to five-fold increased risk of skin cancer, no one would be recommending it’ said Prof McCullough. ‘It is inadvisable for oral health-care professionals to recommend the long term use of alcohol-containing mouthwashes.’
So what does this new study recommend? Study co-author Dr Camile Farah, director of research at the University of Queensland’s School of Dentistry, recommended drastically restricting the use of alcohol-based mouthwash and replacing it ‘with alcohol-free versions.’
Visitors to this website should know that all TheraBreath formulas are alcohol free and completely safe to use. In fact, TheraBreath formulas are even considered kosher and vegan! To the best of our knowledge, no other oral care products can make this claim.
So, if you currently have an alcohol based mouthwash in your medicine cabinet, you may want to reconsider using it based on this latest medical research. Replacing it with an all-natural oral rinse is inexpensive and sensible. And if you have already replaced all that stuff with TheraBreath, you can breathe easy. You are already using the purest and most effective formulas you can buy.
If you would like to read the original Sunday Telegraph story, it’s available here: Sunday Telegraph.
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